Brian Huot | Indiana University of Pennsylvania (original) (raw)

Papers by Brian Huot

Review of Educational Research, 1990

This article attempts to describe the condition of direct writing assessment literature. Instead ... more This article attempts to describe the condition of direct writing assessment literature. Instead of focusing on a particular assessment concept, issue or methodology, this review reflects the concerns evident within the bulk of work done on writing assessment since its adoption during the last fifteen years. The purpose of this work is to provide an overall sense of how assessment research defines the important issues and creates the trends that seek to inform efficient and accurate writing assessment procedures. Focusing on topic selection and task development, the relationship between textual features and quality ratings, and the influences upon raters’ judgments of writing quality, this essay presents direct writing assessment’s own preoccupations and concerns. The center of attention is not only on how direct evaluation has progressed but where it is heading. This large picture of direct writing assessment, available through an examination of its literature, is important to an understanding of direct writing assessment as the primary instrument in making decisions about the quality of student writing.

Multimodal composition: Resources for teachers, 2007

Journal of writing assessment, 2005

Assessing Writing, 2004

When I was in graduate school in the mid 1980s, Michael M. Williamson told me and my graduate stu... more When I was in graduate school in the mid 1980s, Michael M. Williamson told me and my graduate student colleagues that no one did research alone. Over the years, I have come to realize just how accurate he was. I am dependent upon so many people for many of the ideas, insights and expressions in this book, that there is no way I could acknowledge everyone's contributions. I would like to start by thanking all of those people whose names do not appear in this acknowledgement. My omissions are due to the vast intellectual debts I owe for this book and my own inability to remember all of the help I have received. There is no way I could have done the work I have during my professional life and in this book had not many scholars paved the way in writing assessment. Among the many shoulders upon which I stand, I must mention Hunter Breland, Roberta Camp, Charles Cooper, Peter Elbow, Lester Faigley, Lee Odell and Stephen Witte. Of course, like anyone working in college writing assessment I am greatly indebted to Edward M. White for his trail blazing work over the last three or more decades. Although I have carefully documented the published sources I've used, the published work of some people has shaped this volume and helped me to create a text that would not be possible without their contributions. In this category, I would like to thank Arnetha Ball, Pat Belanoff,

Rhetoric Review, 1994

Miriam Brody. Manly Writing: Gender, Rhetoric, and the Rise of Composition. Carbondale: Southern ... more Miriam Brody. Manly Writing: Gender, Rhetoric, and the Rise of Composition. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993. 247 pages.Carol J. Singley and S. Elizabeth Sweeney, eds. Anxious Power: Reading, Writing, and Ambivalence in Narratives by Women. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. xxvi + 400 pages.Gregory Clark and S. Michael Halloran, eds. Oratorical Culture in Nineteenth‐Century America: Transformations

Focusing specifically on holistic scoring, this text looks at issues surrounding the assessment o... more Focusing specifically on holistic scoring, this text looks at issues surrounding the assessment of writing, looking at its social, historical and theoretical context, and questioning what is really meant by "good writing".

education, A Test ofLeadership, has generated much interest and concern among those of us who tea... more education, A Test ofLeadership, has generated much interest and concern among those of us who teach at the postsecondary level. The current presidential administration has been quite active in education, most notably with the pass ing and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Many postsecondary educators were concerned that the Spellings Commission would do for higher education what NCLB did for K-12. Specifically, there was a fear that the commission would recommend the implementation of national, standardized test ing for all postsecondary institutions. The commission was appointed and charged by the Secretary of the Department of Education, Margaret Spellings, "to consider how best to improve our system of higher education to ensure that our graduates are well prepared to meet our future workforce needs and are able to participate fully in the changing economy" (Test 30). The commission's charter stipulates that there be no more than twenty represen...

College Composition and Communication, Sep 1, 2009

... In his analysis of a narrative written by Wendy Bishop and Gay Lynn Crossley about challenges... more ... In his analysis of a narrative written by Wendy Bishop and Gay Lynn Crossley about challenges Bishop experienced as a WPA, Peeples convincingly argues that her challenges were both multiple and dynamic, reflecting not only larger disciplinary conversations about writing ...

College English, May 1, 2010

We take part of the title and purpose of our essay from the fiftieth anniversary issue of College... more We take part of the title and purpose of our essay from the fiftieth anniversary issue of College Composition and Communication to emphasize that by under standing the importance of assessment historically, those engaged in writing assessment can use it more effectively in the present. We believe that assess ment should be part of all English department and writing program administrators' (WPA) agendas, not because of external mandates, but because of the benefits to teaching and learning that assessment can foster. However, we also recognize that assessment can have deleterious effects on curriculum, teacher agency, and student learning. To create a constructive culture for writing assessment demands more than a simple familiarity with assessment terms such as validity, reliability, rubrics, or outcomes. Rather, writing faculty and administrators need to know in greater nuance and depth not only contemporary definitions of assessment concepts, but also how these concepts have historically developed. Our history starts with two competing narratives about how the College En trance Examination Board (CEEB) was founded. We go on to consider how writing assessment as a field and endeavor has its roots intertwined with the beginnings of intelligence testing. In the larger field of psychological and educational measure

While most English professionals feel comfortable with language and literacy theories, assessment... more While most English professionals feel comfortable with language and literacy theories, assessment theories seem more alien. English professionals often don't have a clear understanding of the key concepts in educational measurement, such as validity and reliability, nor do they understand the statistical formulas associated with psychometrics. But understanding assessment theory -- and applying it -- by those who are not psychometricians is critical in developing useful, ethical assessments in college writing programs, and in interpreting and using assessment results. A Guide to College Writing Assessment is designed as an introduction and source book for WPAs, department chairs, teachers, and administrators. Always cognisant of the critical components of particular teaching contexts, O'Neill, Moore, and Huot have written sophisticated but accessible chapters on the history, theory, application and background of writing assessment, and they offer a dozen appendices of practical samples and models for a range of common assessment needs. Because there are numerous resources available to assist faculty in assessing the writing of individual students in particular classrooms, A Guide to College Writing Assessment focuses on approaches to the kinds of assessment that typically happen outside of individual classrooms: placement evaluation, exit examination, programmatic assessment, and faculty evaluation. Most of all, the argument of this book is that creating the conditions for meaningful college writing assessment hinges not only on understanding the history and theories informing assessment practice, but also on composition programs availing themselves of the full range of available assessment practices.

Wpa Writing Program Administration, 1994

Wpa Writing Program Administration, 1992

Typically in our composition classes we are told by freshmen or sophomores that they do little or... more Typically in our composition classes we are told by freshmen or sophomores that they do little or no writing for their other courses. From conversatlon, anecdote, and writing-across-the-curriculum literature, we know that these statements about the dearth of writing in other disciplines is unfounded. However, English teachers' knowledge about the kinds of writing demands and expectations students face in various disciplines is sketchy at best. Most English faculty have little or no idea what kind of writing engineering, biology, or social work students are asked to do. To bolster this knowledge about writing in other disciplines, I propose a systematic means for talking to faculty and administrators across campus about what their students are writing, what purpose this writing has, and what expectations students are asked to meet as they write across the disciplines. Such a discussion assumes that there is a hidden writing curriculum in each department, college, or school. The purpose of this article is to detail a method and rationale for unearthing these hidden curricula to provide the information necessary for informed decisions about the teaching of writing throughout the university.